GM have about 100 days to go??

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by XYGTHO

I'm in the same league mate, 23going 24 with a very small cheap two bedroom house and a 1g xf runabout with no other loans etc. Good luck to you, i know your concern. I too am worried about my job and what is coming in the future. I worked 2jobs, 7days a week for 5 years to just get what i have and now at risk of loosing it all. I think its gone passed being able to do anything, we all just have to hang on and hope for the best.

Are we asking too much to be able to afford the roof over our heads?

And if I did not cause this financial mess, then why are we all going down with it? Everybody's job is at risk or being reviewed and the guys at the top are still sitting pretty..............

[fte50]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

I bet shareholders of those companies would disagree, they are the ones who benefit form the profit through dividends...
Id want the directors of any company i had shares in to work their butts off to make as much money as possible (as long as its not anti competitive illegal activity) to give me a return on my investment, otherwise what's the point of investing in the first place.

Well mate, the directors of half these modern day greed affixated companies have worked their butts off. Problem is they were blinded by greed and could not read reality, hence their position today. Im sure if you were a shareholder you would be ecstatic, given your optimistic attitude.
Smart bussiness practice isnt about a 1 hit wonder, pocket the cash today and dont worry about tommorrow. Its more so continuos improvement and dynamic products, aimed to be BEST in class with minimal quality defects. This simply cant be achieved in undeveloped manufacturing nations.
It does come from reinvesting in your workforce/people/r&d etc and finally selling the product at a FAIR & REASONABLE cost so as to maintain a higher turrnover volume. This inturn has a flow on effect to suppliers etc. One need not be a genius to realise the economic benefits that would follow. More people in REAL jobs, (not selling orange mobile phones @350pw).
Im sure both employees/shareholders etc would favour the long term benefits afforded to them by a company that is viable longterm, than our greedy 1 hit wonders. This doesnt apply to the greed driven capatilists of society.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

If the $AUD gets under $0.60US it will start to be competitive to manufacture here again

that requires capital investment in infrastructure - something that isnt going to happen in a slowdown/recession. come to think of it, it just wont happen at all regardless. the government think a business's primary goal is to wade through red tape and endless regulatory requirements, and turn a profit second. why would anyone bother?

[GT0132]

Originally Posted by Hally

Ansett went broke because of Air New Zealand gross incompentance, plain and simple.

Ummm...May pay to check your facts

I agree Air NZ were incompetent, but for different reasons....The area where they were incompetent was their failure to conduct a full due dilligence on Ansett before making the offer. They wanted quick entry to the Australian domestic market (like Qantas has in New Zealand). However Ansetts fleet was old, decrepid and falling apart at the seams....It's well known that Ansett had several instances of their planes being grounded for mechanical reasons long before Air NZ arrived on the scene.

Air New Zealands incompetence with the Ansett purchase nearly resulted in their own demise and thankfully for them and their shareholders the NZ govt bailed them out. They learned a huge lesson from that and have now turned around since that blimp on the radar screen back in 2001 and have returned to profitability. Australian CEO running Air NZ then I believe (ex Qantas Finance Director Gary Toomey...resigned not long after)

Ansett would have been history whether or not Air NZ had been there, as some other fool would have bought them.

[Dave_au]

Originally Posted by irlewy86

Chapter 11, saving what can be saved and dumping the rest..... remember Ansett?

Ansett wasn't Chapter 11 (which is a US broad rand "bankruptcy" protection provision against creditors), it was a Voluntary Administration, first with PwC, which ceased flight operations, then with Andersen (which itself subsequently collapsed) leading itself to be managed by Korda Mentha.

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by fte50

Well mate, the directors of half these modern day greed affixated companies have worked their butts off. Problem is they were blinded by greed and could not read reality, hence their position today. Im sure if you were a shareholder you would be ecstatic, given your optimistic attitude.
.

On most things im an optimist, and try to have a positive attitude, its the people with negative attitudes and a "woe is me" way of thinking that talk themselves (and the country) into a worse situation than it needs to be IMO...

Originally Posted by fte50

Smart bussiness practice isnt about a 1 hit wonder, pocket the cash today and dont worry about tommorrow. Its more so continuos improvement and dynamic products, aimed to be BEST in class with minimal quality defects. This simply cant be achieved in undeveloped manufacturing nations.
It does come from reinvesting in your workforce/people/r&d etc and finally selling the product at a FAIR & REASONABLE cost so as to maintain a higher turrnover volume. This inturn has a flow on effect to suppliers etc. One need not be a genius to realise the economic benefits that would follow. More people in REAL jobs, (not selling orange mobile phones @350pw).
Im sure both employees/shareholders etc would favour the long term benefits afforded to them by a company that is viable longterm, than our greedy 1 hit wonders. This doesnt apply to the greed driven capatilists of society.

Agree 100%, id say the vast majority of business owners would think and act this way... not all directors/business owners have total control of their destiny though....

[Ghiadude]

Originally Posted by Green X

Bloody oath mate, And i bet that ship had gas from Woodside in it too!! A Australian company's 1st priority selling Aus gas overseas 2nd priority if we got any left we will sell it to Australians at a inflated cost!!

I'm on a Rio Tinto site, they rip up A grade Ore ship it to China (Same with BHP, FMG Ect) and then we buy it back as steel (and chit steel too i might add) should hear the boilermakers about the chit, we should be digging it up sending it to Australian steel mill's and then selling it to the world. But hay then the profit sheet wouldn't be so big would it!

The B grade is shipped to Port Kembla's Sinter Plant to be converted into pellets that are used at the steel works or exported. At the moment port kembla has cut production dramatically. No orders at the moment they reckon.

[King Nothing]

Originally Posted by tx3dude

The B grade is shipped to Port Kembla's Sinter Plant to be converted into pellets that are used at the steel works or exported. At the moment port kembla has cut production dramatically. No orders at the moment they reckon.

Actually the sinter plant makes sinter, not pellets. And they would be reducing their order due to one of their blast furnaces shutting down for a planned reline early next year (it's a big job). Once that is finished and the sinter plant upgrade is done, they should be full steam ahead. Although I can only imagine what the recent drop in steel prices would do to their operations.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by b0son

that requires capital investment in infrastructure - something that isnt going to happen in a slowdown/recession. come to think of it, it just wont happen at all regardless. the government think a business's primary goal is to wade through red tape and endless regulatory requirements, and turn a profit second. why would anyone bother?

Actually there was a recent article where people were saying that with the economic downturn that money should be spent on the infrastructure in Oz and not given to people as it would be put away and not spent which is not what you want in a slowing economy.

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by b0son

that requires capital investment in infrastructure - something that isnt going to happen in a slowdown/recession. come to think of it, it just wont happen at all regardless. the government think a business's primary goal is to wade through red tape and endless regulatory requirements, and turn a profit second. why would anyone bother?

Yep.. been there, done that.. doubt i'll do it again unless its an industry largely insulated from the effects of fluctuations in the $AUD.

[Buddy 1]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

I bet shareholders of those companies would disagree, they are the ones who benefit form the profit through dividends...
Id want the directors of any company i had shares in to work their butts off to make as much money as possible (as long as its not anti competitive illegal activity) to give me a return on my investment, otherwise what's the point of investing in the first place.

Yes from a Shareholders perspective they again want More Dividends (Money) however what about the non Shareholders who as a result get to pay High Interest rates or Bank Fees or indeed Higher Prices for Goods or Services all because the Shareholders want to increase their Wealth.

It should not be 1 group benifets at the Expense of another.

Many struggle just to put food on the Table & will never be well of enough to invest in shares or anything else for that matter, should they suffer so the Wealthy can have increased Profit?

I think we should take a step back in time & invest any Money we have in things like Fixed term deposits ar Bank etc & then we would not need to have so many Companies on the sharemarket who have to make profits for the shareholders & the Banks would also be better off as well.

Look at ABC Learning centres, they floated, they also get 2 Billion a year from the Goverment & still they go belly up.

I am so sick of Hearing about the Greed of Large Companies or Investors!

[Buddy 1]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

If the $AUD gets under $0.60US it will start to be competitive to manufacture here again for allot of stuff that's been imported over the past 3 years just to stay in the game.
China has gradually got more expensive over the past 3 years for a number of reasons, they don't have to be so cheap to still get orders, and their expectations and standards of living are on the rise.

Great for Exporters however Fuel will stay Very High, Freight will cost more & this Leads to all freighted goods costing more for everyone.

Like Food.

Again the small person would suffer the most.

[mik]

what a great thread...many well thought out comments from a diversity of people, if only a heap of corporations and people in charge that give a stuff could study this thread and and have a think tank.......... maybe we could have Australia heading in a good direction.

[burnz]

Originally Posted by mik

what a great thread...many well thought out comments from a diversity of people, if only a heap of corporations and people in charge that give a stuff could study this thread and and have a think tank.......... maybe we could have Australia heading in a good direction.

so...how much are you going charge them to read it??
or maybe we should book donald trump to preach to them.

[big_landau]

after going overseas i have learnt something.if we all support local products we will all benifit.but most aussies think there above everything and thats why were going under,we simply dont support each other!!!

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by big_landau

after going overseas i have learnt something.if we all support local products we will all benifit.but most aussies think there above everything and thats why were going under,we simply dont support each other!!!

When people purchase a car, they are thinking of their needs, not of others.
They want a vehicle of a certain size for a certain purpose, and if they have no need for a six-cylinder vehicle (we'll ignore the Camry), they will not purchase one purely to support Australian families. Unfortunate, but that is the way it is.

I think people have forgotten what great value Australian vehicles are. You get a very good all-round package.

There has been a mind-shift in the car buyer's market due to higher petrol prices, as well as the new focus on "green motoring", which to me at this stage is merely gestural.

The only true form of green "motoring" is a bicycle, but even then, there are environmental effects of making bicycles, as well as disposal issues.

[Buddy 1]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

When people purchase a car, they are thinking of their needs, not of others.
They want a vehicle of a certain size for a certain purpose, and if they have no need for a six-cylinder vehicle (we'll ignore the Camry), they will not purchase one purely to support Australian families. Unfortunate, but that is the way it is.

Then the answer is simple, we should Manufacture More Small & Medium sized vehicles as we have shown we can Produce Fantastic world Class Large vehicles so surely we could also Make our own smaller ones.

And if we as Aussie's do not buy more Local Products we will see the Demise in time of Ford & Holden or any other Local Manufacturer you care to name.

We are not here to make Asain Countries wealthy, we want our own Country to prosper

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by Buddy 1

Yes from a Shareholders perspective they again want More Dividends (Money) however what about the non Shareholders who as a result get to pay High Interest rates or Bank Fees or indeed Higher Prices for Goods or Services all because the Shareholders want to increase their Wealth.

It should not be 1 group benifets at the Expense of another.

Many struggle just to put food on the Table & will never be well of enough to invest in shares or anything else for that matter, should they suffer so the Wealthy can have increased Profit?

Welcome to democracy and a "free world".. everyone has a choice and a chance, what you make of it is up to you.
The ideology of "shared wealth", that there should be no wealthy or poor is the cornerstone of a communist society... Where everyone drives the same car, has the same house.... where working a bit harder or being a bit smarter goes without reward..

[XRtowcar]

GM share price dropped 44c last night to $4.36. Down from $39.19 in oct 2007. Ouch!

[andrewr]

Originally Posted by BA Waggn

I thought, he who held the most gold bullion, can print the money.

As someone else said noone holds gold anymore. A lot of countries (including some big ones from the middle east) hold their reserves in US$. This means that as the US collapses it directly effects other countries, as well as having a knock on effect to other countries (like us).

It is madness that as a global economy we have let ourselves get so tied in with the US$. When they fall we fall.

I agree with everyone who is saying there are too many car manufacturers. I mean really do we need to choose between a falcon and a commodore? We waste so many resources effectivly making the same product over and over.

[Wally]

Originally Posted by b0son

.......... the government think a business's primary goal is to wade through red tape and endless regulatory requirements, and turn a profit second. why would anyone bother?

That's because the public service actually think they are a business and their success, being based on endless procedures, should translate into the private sector.

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by Buddy 1

Then the answer is simple, we should Manufacture More Small & Medium sized vehicles as we have shown we can Produce Fantastic world Class Large vehicles so surely we could also Make our own smaller ones.

That is why Ford will start building the Focus here. People report on the poor quality of the South African built vehicles at times...hopefully when Australia starts building, that improves.

[Buddy 1]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Welcome to democracy and a "free world".. everyone has a choice and a chance, what you make of it is up to you.
The ideology of "shared wealth", that there should be no wealthy or poor is the cornerstone of a communist society... Where everyone drives the same car, has the same house.... where working a bit harder or being a bit smarter goes without reward..

Not all Wealthy People are Wealthy because of Hard Work or even Smart Choices just the same as not all Poor People are Poor because of the same.

Do you think it is ok for a non Performing CEO to be paid Millions or even for that matter a performing one who gets good results?

Or a Brain Dead pop singer who has 1 Hit song to be a Multi Millionare?

And I am not saying we should all be Communist however somewhere in the Middle between what we Have now as a System & Communism may just be a more Fair way to be.

Look at the New President of the USA he is saying the same sort of thing as I am which is make it a more even playing Field for all or should the Rich get Richer while the Poor cannot feed themselves?

[Buddy 1]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

That is why Ford will start building the Focus here. People report on the poor quality of the South African built vehicles at times...hopefully when Australia starts building, that improves.

Yes that is a move in the right Direction however will that be an Aussie designed Vehicle or will we just assemble another Countries vehicle?

We Used to Design & Build Small, Medium & Large Cars here so why can we not once again?

Main reason has been because the People were Buying Vehicles from other Countries in large Numbers well this should stop right now as we need to look at the Big Picture & not just our own Pathetic little Lives :P

By that I mean each of us are really not important in the scheme of the world
(Myself included) however unlike me who can see I am not many think they are the Most Important & that their Lives are more Important than others or a Country as a whole & that is all that Matters to them.

[VertexZ]

Originally Posted by Lynch'd

Be careful about over generalising there. While the dollar has plummeted, so has demand for asian goods and so have the commodity prices. From someone who imports a great deal of products out of asia, we have already seen an average of 15-20% price drop across the board on these goods. This has nearly completely offset the drop in the AUD against the US and has also opened us back up to exports that were smashed when the dollar previously went north. The current situation is a godsend for many in the manufacturing industry here who toughed it out.

Im also in the import game and prices have risen alot over the last 3 years ex China, not surprising given China's inflation rate is about 10%. The higher AUD has compensated for those prices rises, but now with the fall in the AUD, our costs are increasing a lot. Lower raw material costs should help stabilise or lower the FOB prices,

In terms of the local car industry, expect the price of imported cars to rise 10-20% early next year (depending on how much the manufacturers/importers/dealers absorb). That will be of benefit to local manufacturers.

[burnz]

maybe the government should do what other government's do.
if you don't buy an australian car well give you a tax audit.

[irlewy86]

Originally Posted by burnz

maybe the government should do what other government's do.
if you don't buy an australian car well give you a tax audit.

Thats a lot of audits every year!

[paule11]

Good posts Buddy1 commonsense not enough of it thats why things go wrong

[bob 351]

just heard on the ABC THIS MORNING THAT IF THE U.S GOVERNMENT CANT HELP FINACIALY WITH THE G.M COMPANY THAT THEY WILL CLOSE UP SHOP

[Spanrz]

Originally Posted by Buddy 1

Yes that is a move in the right Direction however will that be an Aussie designed Vehicle or will we just assemble another Countries vehicle?

We Used to Design & Build Small, Medium & Large Cars here so why can we not once again?

Main reason has been because the People were Buying Vehicles from other Countries in large Numbers well this should stop right now as we need to look at the Big Picture & not just our own Pathetic little Lives :P

Put simply is cost - labour to make it. Be and end all of our car industry.
1 car built here in Aus, could = around 25 cars built in India or Asia territory.
Until Asia get's with the program and up's their rates, is when we will see some sort of turnaround in the method of using "cheap labour".

Until the "segway" of car's get's built here in Aus, I don't see manufacturing turning heads.
Problem is, the Gov, who supports the Oil system and Oil cartels who keep buying out electric alternative ideas from up and coming inventors.

Ring a ring a rosy.!